Notre Dame falls to South Florida

Melvin Buckley tallied 11 points and Kentrell Gransberry pitched in with nine
points and 14 boards for South Florida, (12-11, 3-6 Big East) which had lost
three of its last four games coming in.

Colin Falls led Notre Dame (18-5, 6-4) with 26 points. Russell Carter scored
14 points but was 5-of-15 from the field. Luke Harangody added 10 points and
nine rebounds for the Fighting Irish, who had won their previous two games.

Buckley opened up the second half with a hot hand, scoring the first
five points with a three and a jump shot that put the Bulls ahead 36-26.

After a Gransberry layup made the score 40-31 in favor of South Florida, The
Fighting Irish went on a 15-4 run, capped by a Falls trey to give Notre Dame a
46-44 advantage with 9:50 remaining to play.

After another Falls triple gave Notre Dame a 49-46 lead, South Florida scored
15 of the next 19 points in the game, putting the Bulls up 61-53 with a 1:48
left to play. Mattis scored 11 points during that stretch.

The Fighting Irish got no closer than six the rest of the way.

A Carter jumper gave Notre Dame a 5-3 lead early, but the Bulls went on a 14-6
surge to overtake The Fighting Irish 17-11.

The two teams exchanged buckets the rest of the half as South Florida took a
31-26 lead at the half.

Game Notes

South Florida outrebounded Notre Dame 47-36…Mattis grabbed eight offensive
rebounds…Notre Dame had won the only two previous meetings between the two
schools.